Light Aircraft down in Oxfordshire (Merged)

[Capvermell]

I'm glad to see some sense has finally prevailed (in view of the suspended only sentence for what nominally were serious threats) and that it has been realised that these threats were clearly not actually going to be carried out but merely a cry of despair by the pilot who has seen his whole life, marriage and career destroyed as a result of no doubt being charmed by Mr Farage (who does have a lot of charm when he wants to use it to get his way) to both carry an unreasonably oversized banner and to carry Mr Farage on board for the flight as a passenger.

Obviously the pilot should have said no to both the banner and the passenger but I feel sure that the UKIP leader is at least in part to blame for this whole situation by encouraging the pilot to do something that Mr Farage must surely also have realised was unreasonably dangerous. And of course banner flying is a somewhat inherently risky business perhaps therefore more inclined to appeal to pilots with a personality type that is willing to take risks.

One can only hope the pilot here will be able to move on and at least be thankful he is still alive, although I fear that he will probably also have lost his pilot's license either forever or for several years as a result of this incident.

[coldair]

A more informative story is in Scotland's Herald newspaper.

Farage threat pilot goes free - Herald Scotland | News | Home News

A sad ending in many respects.

[Capvermell]

There seems to be no information whatsoever in that story on whether or not Nigel Farage was being legally carried as a passenger by the pilot.

If after the 6 month investigation the insurance company was going to pay out on his aircraft and he was going to get his license back it does seem very sad that he then lost the plot to the extent of phoning the Police to make these death threats. Obviously the fact he rang the Police to tell them that these were his intentions rather suggests he was not at all serious about carrying them out. If he had been at all serious about carrying out his threats he would probably have been sending anonymous letters to his intended victims in the post rather than calling up the Police and making it clear who he was.

One wonders why exactly he was held in custody for 6 months for an offence over which he only eventually received a community service order. Although perhaps he would have been jailed for 6 months or a year if he had not already spent this time in custody. Sad also that his wife left him with their child although probably this was something that was going to happen soon in any case as many other wives would have rallied to their husband's side in a situation where they had been injured and their ability to earn their livelihood temporarily cut off. This sounds like a wife who only wanted to stay with her husband as long as he kept bringing cash through the front door to feed and clothe their child and who had no other reason left for wanting to stay with him.

[strake]

One wonders why exactly he was held in custody for 6 months for an offence over which he only eventually received a community service order.

When considering bail, one of the factors the court has to take into account is the prosecution's case at it's highest level of potential sentence if the defendant is found guilty at trial. In this case, it was a threat to kill, so he was remanded.
In terms of the eventual sentence, this would have been handed down after mitigating circumstances were accepted at trial as well as taking into account his previous good character and pre-sentence reports from Probation.

[Capvermell]

When considering bail, one of the factors the court has to take into account is the prosecution's case at it's highest level of potential sentence if the defendant is found guilty at trial. In this case, it was a threat to kill, so he was remanded.

In the UK criminal courts everyone is considered innocent until it is proven otherwise so whether or not people get bail has nothing whatsoever to do with the length of potential sentence if found guilty and everything to do with whether or not there is a risk of them fleeing and not appearing for trial and/or of them posing a threat to other parties whilst they are out on bail. The risk of a defendant fleeing does of course perhaps indirectly depend to some extent on how long they could go down for if found guilty.

Perhaps it was the death threats that in this case coloured thinking about whether or not he should get bail although in his current circumstances he may of course also not have had the necessary finance available to put down as surety against being bailed.

However we still haven't got to the bottom of the question of whether or not Nigel Farage was being legally carried as a passenger on the aircraft on election day.

[chrisN]

What is the source of the information that the banner was oversized? I can’t see any mention in postings except very recently – not in AAIB or press reports, where I would have though at least AAIB would have mentioned it, if true.

Is not the commander of an aircraft, rather than a passenger, entirely responsible for ensuring that the flight is within permitted limits etc.?

Just wondering.


Chris N.

[Deeday]

Is not the commander of an aircraft, rather than a passenger, entirely responsible for ensuring that the flight is within permitted limits etc.?

I'd be astonished if that wasn't the case.
I also don't buy the idea that it was Mr. Farage who "charmed" the pilot into breaking any air work regulations (on banner sizes, carrying of passengers etc.) More likely it was the very tempting publicity return from such high-profile job that influenced the pilot's decision to go ahead regardless.